More than 90% of Belfast residents are satisfied with the city as a place to live.

And they have identified jobs, skills, investment, safety, community relations, health and a cleaner city as their priorities as Belfast City Council moves into a new era with increased powers and a wider geographical area.

The survey was conducted by Social Market Research on behalf of the council and was based on a representative sample of residents, with a total of 1500 people interviewed across the new Belfast district boundary.

Findings from the survey will be published on the Belfast City Council’s website by the end of February.

Councillor Deirdre Hargey, Presiding Councillor of Belfast’s shadow council which will take over responsibilities on 1 April, 2015, said: “The council engages with ratepayers through a number of different channels on an ongoing basis but the survey helps us to formally identify priorities for coming years.

“The results will help us to develop our future priorities for Belfast as we move to set up the new council and we will continue to seek the views of our residents including those joining us from Castlereagh and Lisburn”.

As well as 92 per cent satisfaction with living in the city, 86 per cent said they were satisfied with their local areas.

And 79 per cent felt that the city provided people with the opportunities to live life to the full, 74 per cent stated that young people get the chance to reach their full potential, while older people are treated with respect, according to 76 per cent.

In relation to areas for improvement, access to jobs and training along with community and race relations were highlighted. Only 54% felt that Belfast people get on well regardless of background or beliefs and almost half of those surveyed said they did less than 30 minutes physical activity on a weekly basis.

In terms of the performance of Belfast City Council, responses were broadly positive:

The majority agreed that the council worked to attract investors to the city (75 per cent), improve the environment (72 per cent), improve local communities and support local people (71 per cent) and improve the local economy (70 per cent).

69 per cent agreed that the council makes Belfast a better place to live

65 per cent agreed that the council shows good leadership for the city and 69% were satisfied at how it is run.

64 per cent agreed that the council keeps resident either very or fairly well informed about its services.